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Oil Cooler screen need on R 1200 models?

Hi All,

I have been contemplating the need for an oil cooler screen on the R1200 bikes, particularly the RT's. Has any one ever developed a puncture of the oil cooler by road debris, etc. while riding? If so, would an aftermarket screen have helped or did it help? What model R1200 (or R1100, 1150 even) was it? Off road or on?

There are a couple of good-sized dents in the screen on my wife's R1200R, and I actually have a dent in my R1200GS screen, even though that cooler is placed high up and back inside the beak. Same reason we have headlight guards on both bikes.

I've never had the problem on my RT (maybe because I'm usually leading, not following) but certainly others here have. I don't get one since you can farkle yourself to death. If I get a hole in mine, I have the tools to fix it anyway. (It is a low pressure system, not like a coolant radiator.)

oil cooler

Got quite a few hail dents in mine last year riding thru a storm just north of Cheyenne, WY. I have a guard on it now and have ran it in traffic up to 105 degrees with no overheating issues. Looks pretty good too. Mine is a Wunderlich.

There is a huge difference in what it takes to bend a fin a little and and what it takes to actually hole a cooler. Folks who race cages can tell you about scooping buckets full of rocks and rubber out of the front after some time on track- and the screens on those are generally larger mesh that catch only big stuff
Fins are easily straightened if they bother you by everything from knife blades to special tools made for the purpose. Bent fins won't have an appreciable effect on cooling unless you somehow succeed in hammering most of them over enough to block airflow.

I've never damaged a bike cooler, but I did lose a radiator on a car once, long before I had a air conditioner and it's condenser to protect it. Because my R1200R's radiator is so low I have one on it. If nothing else it gives me peace of mind. You almost cannot see it either, and it has not affected the cooling.

Wunderlich oil screen

+1 on the Wunderlich screen. Looks better than stock bike. Super easy to install. I caught a sparrow in mine last year at high speed: it was flattened (the bird). Far from home, far from a BMW dealer. I wouldn't be without it.

Rather than a oil cooler screen, a better return on investment, at least on an R12R, is protection for the exposed oil filter on the bottom of the engine. A bash plate off a GS will provide this insurance. A punctured filter spraying oil over your tires can lead to a catastrophic result real quick.

It's why I have a GS bash plate under the engine now. Was going into a rather tight S turn on my way home from a ride one day.. turn I took almost every day on the way to/from work (when I did that sort of thing.)

Just as I entered the turn, I heard a "thunk" and felt something in the bike. Didn't think anything of it for a few seconds - then the rear tire started moving sideways and back and forth. In the turn. That got my attention. I figured I'd had a blowout. No shoulder on the turn at all, so I had to ride through it.

Finally - a few seconds later (seemed like minutes, that time slowing down thing) I managed get through the second part of the curve and pull over on the shoulder, to notice oil running out from under the bike and on my boot. Couldn't put the sidestand down due to the crown in the road, shut off the engine immediately, and just sat there (more or less a sitting duck to anyone going through the curve too fast.)

Finally heard a yell - guy who lived across the street yelled "Have a problem?" - Whew. Yes I did. He crossed the busy road, and helped steady the bike while I got off it. The two of us pushed it across the road into his driveway. Nice guy, rode a Goldwing. Got a case of beer the next week somehow..

The rear tire was simply soaked with engine oil. All the way around and dripping off it. I called a friend with a trailer, he came and picked me up and we went back to his shop. Looked like the filter must have burst, until we took it off. There was a neat as can be triangular hole (remember the old church-key hole in a beer can - same size and shape) in the side of the filter. A piece of steel rod had been tossed up by the front tire, caught in the recess for the oil filter and levered against the road and sump, opening up the filter so all the goodness came out and gave me one of the scariest rides I've ever had.

For the next year - that curve had me spooked. I could see my trail of oil - from where it started to where I ended up on the shoulder. The oil on the pavement gradually faded, the oil on the shoulder stayed visible until they repaved the road. I'm finally able to go through the curve at speed again, but it did take a long time for the memory to fade.

Since I never wanted to do this again - I rather quickly found a GS bash plate (a friend had a spare kicking around) and the mounting stuff for it, and my bike has had one ever since. A lot of friends with R1200R's also have them now. Just seems like a good idea IMHO.

Rather than a oil cooler screen, a better return on investment, at least on an R12R, is protection for the exposed oil filter on the bottom of the engine. A bash plate off a GS will provide this insurance. A punctured filter spraying oil over your tires can lead to a catastrophic result real quick.

+1. It is actually quick and easy to install the GS skid plate under an R. Find yourself an unused GS skid plate (usually plenty around, as riders replace them with aftermarket items). Order the mounting hardware from your local dealer if the GS donor doesn't have it, and a quick 10 minutes will have the plate bolted up under the R. We did this to my wife's R and the plate already has a big gash on it from some rock or road debris along the way. I figure it has already paid for itself...